only dealt with twice before in history. when the votes for chuck hagel were tallied in the senate, democrats were essentially just one short. republican senators pat cochran, susan collins, johanns and murkowski sided with the president. >> the notion that we would see an unprecedented filibuster, just about unprecedented -- we've never had a secretary of defense filibustered before. they seem to think that the rule now is that you have to have 60 votes for everything. well, that's not the rule. >> senate majority harry reid suggested it's pure politics. >> i guess to be able to run for the senate as a republican in most places of the country, you need to have a resume that says, i help filibuster one of

president's nominees. maybe that helps. maybe that keeps the tea party guy from running against you. but this should not be politics. >> senator john mccain's response to politics, you played politics, too. >> in 1989 they filibustered or basically stopped him from coming to the floor of the senate. we didn't have a secretary of defense for three months. it didn't seem to bother harry reid or carl levin at the time. >> i want to bring in david nak can amura. >> hi, chris. >> what happened here? did the president misread how this was going to be? >> this has been something that he's dealt with for the past couple years. the white house thinks that republicans are purposefully trying to sort of bottle up not only these higher level appointees but lower level judges. it's not that they didn't expect it. we got an e-mail yesterday from senior white house officials

saying, take a deep breath. it's going to happen. they are sort of trying to influence stories to make sure it doesn't take on a momentum of their own and go off the rails. it is a problem. you see the president during his state of the union address saying in terms of gun control and other votes that have come down the line, let's have a vote. let's not allow the filibuster. with hagel, leading republicans are saying it's going to take more time and this is sort of politics as usual now. >> for republicans, what do you think this is about, chris? some say they want more information about hagel, some want more information about benghazi. john mccain suggested this morning that frankly there's a lot of ill will towards hagel from when he was a senator. what do you see going on here? >> well, for republicans it was a choose your grievance. some republicans were upset that harry reid said he wasn't going to honor a hold.

what you're seeing here from republicans is a play to make sure that they flex a little muscle so that the democrats understand that the president's agenda has to go through them and that's on guns, on immigration. i agree with david. i think this will get done but it's never great for a nominee to have to wait another week to hang out there and take shots from opposition. it's not a great place for them to be but i'm not worried that this is not going to get through but this is the flexing of the muscle by republicans in the senate for sure. >> okay. so hagel gets blocked at least for now. rand paul and others are threatening to block john brennan. susan rice didn't get to the nomination process. is this rocky road if that's how we want to describe it, david, does this hurt the president's credibility or at least his ability to get things done, a small distraction, should it become a smaller one? put it into the wider con tech in terms of what the white house want to be accomplishing right

now. >> it does take away according to past presidents, national security is where one says the president says it's a precedent to do this. it's a time that we have a lot of things going on in terms of the president's foreign policy, particularly in the middle east and withdraw in afghanistan coming to the fore and you need someone in the pentagon doing this. it can be seen as a nuisance in that the president want to be talking about his agenda, which is the gun control, immigration, things that people can get done. you have, of course, this sequester and the ongoing issue of the spending situation and taxes. so i think these are the things that the president wants to be talking about. he's going to be on the road talking about gun control. so the question is, will he have to be talking about this to put the pressure on republicans to get moving on his appointees. >> i want to bring in congresswoman karen bass. >> good morning. >> what do you think the republican motivation is for delaying the nomination? >> i think senator mcclain was

perfectly clear when he said that they are still mad when senator hagel gave testimony and was negative towards president bush. i think this is a vendetta. i think this is a holdover from the past and it's making the united states look very bad. what are our allies around the world thinking about us right now? >> well, i think there are a couple of points of what the potential impact might be. we were just talking about one of them. you have big cuts that have to come and the defense secretary has to be on top of that. you also have, you know, a situation where chuck hagel, if he's confirmed you wonder how beat up he's going to be, what kind of working relationship he will have with republicans. tell me what your concerns are about this delay. >> well, again, i think we have so many dangers that we're facing around the world right now and there's so many expectations for our international leadership and

what signal is this sending to the world. and i do think that with several months past the election at this point in time, i'm really worried about the signal that this is sending to the country. are they ever going to get over it? the election is done. we need to move on. we do have very critical things that we're facing, like the sequester. >> let me ask you, if i can, because the sequester is the other big story of the day and i'm wondering, is is this a case, again, of congress not doing anything until you're up against a wall or is just nothing going to get done in. >> well, i think it's a case of the republican leadership in the house not doing anything. you know how often we're in session. essentially they seem as though they have decided that they are just going to let us go over the cliff again. this time the cliff will be the sequester and there doesn't seem to be any movement on their part. we do know that -- >> congresswoman, let me read what senator john thune wrote. it reads in part, quote, when democrats are prepared to confront reality, republicans stand ready to work with the president and congressional

democrats on spending reforms. and i know you've heard the republicans say this over and over and over again, washington has a spending problem. democrats need to be willing to make cuts. what do you say to that? >> you know, what i say is, first of all, i'm in my second term now. for the two years that i have been here, all we have done is cut. the first time revenue was on the table was on january 2nd. and the cuts have already been very devastating. you know, i have to tell you that this morning i watched a commercial that is airing in the east coast. it it was advertising home heating assistance and essentially saying that if you can't afford home heating oil in this winter, that you can get a grant from sysco. so now seniors and poor folks have to rely on the government of venezuela to provide home heating aassistance because the cuts to home heating have been so devastating, cuts to

education, health care. you have states begin beginning to rally right now. the economy is picking up in california. things are getting better. now moving forward irresponsibly like this to march is going to set states back. so when they talk about being realistic, i don't know what they are referring to. democrats have put up with nothing but cuts for the last two years. >> congresswoman karen bass, always good to have you on the program. thank you. >> thank you. thank for having are me on. >> i think it's going to be tough, chris. i think what you're seeing right now between the house and the republicans is a political game of chicken. they are both coming down the road at 65 miles an hour. if the other guy could swerve a little bit, we would avoid this cliff. we're at that same place again. i think that these sequester cuts go into effect. i was talking to a moderate senate democratic senator the

other day who said, you know, it might be june before people start to really feel the effect and start to realize, hey, we want to get out of here for the summer, parades to do for the fourth of july. maybe we should get a deal together. and the way things are progressing where you have senate democrats putting out a budget that has cuts in it, more of a cut-based plan, they are going to sell those plans to people and there's no sense in the congress that anybody is going to put forward a sequestration, delay, or fix that is going to be able to get through. so it's going to be at this point both guys going down parallel tracks and not meeting in the middle any time soon. >> david, this is what boggles the mind of the average american who gets up every morning, goes to work and does their job, the idea that for congress to do their job, they have to be threatened with the possibility that they might not have a chance to stand in front of bundting on the fourth of july. with everybody in congress leaving for a week, is the sequester going to happen and

then lawmakers deal with it after the fact? is chris right? >> i think chris is right. if you look a month and a half ago. taxes were going to go up. there was a lot of alarm and concern. it went down to the final hour. its with a last minute. this is different. you read and hear a lot about now, as chris said, the cuts aren't going to be immediate. it's going to be down the road. now -- and you also have political action committee like the americans for prosperity saying we're going to campaign against lifting this cut. you have all of the pressures on the conservative members to not do anything right now. so i do sense difference and my wife works at the pentagon. there is concern about that. >> there's an interesting parallel, chris, that david just reminded me of, that the longer these get delayed, whether it's a sequester or nomination of chuck hagel, that's more time

for people who are opposed to what's going on to get ads out there, to lobby. it just make it is more complicated, doesn't it? >> absolutely. and it makes it it more expensive, chris. if you go down the road, it's not just that they have to fix going forward. they have to then retroactively avoid the cuts that will take effect march 1st. it gets more expensive. when i talk to republican senators, they say mitch mcconnell is in no mood to be the closer again. there's no sense that they are going to bend on these demands for more cuts without more tax revenue and they are signaling that very clearly. of course, it's easy to signal that early on in the fight. but the republicans are working closely across the congress, from the house to the senate, to make sure that their message is united and there's not a sense that anybody on the republican side is going to move and that's the same on the democratic side.

they are demanding some tax increases. they feel like they have a pretty good hand, the defendants cuts going into effect. they say, don't love the sequester but we'll take it if if that's what we have to do. both sides are in agreement of that. >> chris frates, david nak a mura, thank you very much. this is like straight out of a movie. a ten-ton meteor slammed into russia. it was said to be going 33,000 miles per hour. it set off car alarms and shattered glass over a wide area. an estimated 1,000 people were hurt, most of them by flying glass, what scientists say was a cosmic coincidence, a 150-foot asteroid is headed for us. astronomers say it will be a fly by about 17,000 miles away from earth. i'm up next, but now i'm singing the heartburn blues. hold on, prilosec isn't for fast relief.

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opposition is growing on both sides to president obama's voting commission aimed at making voting easier. critics on the right say the plan is an overreach by the federal government. on the left, critics say the proposed commission doesn't go far enough. and that includes the league of women voters. following tuesday's state of the union, the organization issued this statement saying it was, quote, disappointed that president obama failed to call for bold action on voting rights. joining me now is the national president of the league of women voters. thank you for being with us. >> good morning. thank you for having me. >> in your mind, what is lacking in this? what would bold action be? >> well, the time to act on this is now. this is fresh in voters' minds. this is an issue that we actually understand quite well. we have experienced long lines

every four years in a presidential election. we have a lot of dedicated professionals who run our elections who know very well that we need a better -- we need a less antiquated registration system, better polling place allocations, equitable polling place allocation and we need early voting. this is not a big mystery. so it's not only not bold but this is a way of kicking the can down the road once again on election reform. something that, you know, we do about every four years. >> let me play for you exactly what the president had to say on tuesday night. >> when any american, no matter where they live or what their party, are denied that right because they can't can afford to wait for five or six or seven hours just to cast their ballot, we are betraying our ideals. >> that does sound like something the league would

support. >> absolutely. we completely agree with the president on his statements on election night, on -- in the inaugural and with the statement that you just played, we absolutely agree. this is a fundamental right for american voters. american voters need solutions. our disappointment is that the president chose to address this with the commission rather than taking action now and calling for action now. that's where we're disappointed. it's not that we disagree that there is a problem. it's not that we disagree with what the president's approach other than we would like to see something happen more immediately and not, as i said, kick this can down the road again by sending this to yet another commission. >> one proposed solution is to allow people to vote online and, in fact, politico has a new article today that talks about some of the risks involved, citing security computer experts saying a national vote online poses a national security

threat. let me ask you about that and what your position is on online voting, which would seem to be at least on the face of it a way for a lot more people to have access. >> well, we want our elections to be free, fair, and accessible to every eligible voter. what the league is calling for is that we have permanent and portable registration within the states, that we have secure, online voter registration. >> let me make sure people understand what you say when you say that. if i live in ohio and go to school in columbus but graduate and live in medina, folks would register there? >> we have the technological capability of knowing that you're registered and you're not having to rerej stir every time you move within the state. we also would like to see security online voter registration. we know a lot of the problems

that occur at the polls is confusion over our very, very decentralized, very, very paper heavy registration system. that causes a lot of trouble on election day. we also with would like to see some standards and standardized periods for early voting. early voting relieves a great deal of pressure on the polls. it's enormously popular with american voters and obviously, too, what we find on election day is we don't have an equitable distribution of resources in polling places. those are the four things that the league is calling for and has been calling for now since this election. and these are things -- these are things, as i said, that we understand. this is not a big mystery what causes these lines and we would like to have the president add his voice to ours and we'd love to see the president explore his own executive authority in terms of what we can do now rather than waiting for however long it takes for a commission to gather data that we believe we already

have. >> elisabeth, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. some passengers actually kissed the ground when they disembarked from that cruise. power problems and nonworking bathroom problems are finally over. the ship docked in mobile, alabama, last night. >> it was like literally being in a human port-a-potty. human waste everywhere. the crew did a great job of keeping our spirits up but it was tough. >> it was tough. it was very tough. we slept out on the decks. i ate a lot of sandwiches. >> carnival's ceo apologized to passengers on the public address system as they got off the ship. they will get a full refund and discounts on future cruises and an additional $500 each in compensation. but can you blame the ones who said coming off that ship, my

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in just about an hour, senator frank lautenberg will hold a news conference. the 89-year-old is expected to talk about his retirement which he announced yesterday. he was and elected to the senate in 1982. that clears the way for newark mayor cory booker. speaking of running, could rahm emanuel run if hillary clinton is not interested? a spokesman told a chicago newspaper he is not running. so check out the website for this swanky website where the obamas spent valentine's day. it's called minibar.

house speaker john boehner blew a kiss to luke russert. and you'll want to hear what the president said about the penny. he didn't rule out the idea of getting rid of it. >> this is not going to be a huge savings for government, but any time we're spending more money on something that people don't actually use, that's an example of something we should probably change. >> and if you read only one thing this morning, "time" magazine tries to answer the question that a lot of us had as conditions for the stranded carnival cruise passengers got more and more disgusting. why weren't they just evacuated? why not send in the coast guard? it's up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco. it reduces the urge to smoke.

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making news this morning, oscar pistorius held his head in his hands as prosecutors said they would pursue a charge of premeditated murder. the double amputee known as "blade runner" is being accused of shooting his model girlfriend four times. the remains have been confirmed as those of christopher dorner. he was suspected in a shooting rampage that left four people dead. police are not sure if he was shot, committed suicide, or died from the fire. police used insend rather tear gas. and ex-mayor 66-year-old is being charged with money laundering and accused of stealing money from her late

husband's charity. she won about $1 billion but loft even more. leaving her $13 million in the red. she attributes the behavior to a brain tumor diagnosed in 2011. most americans are okay with not getting their mail on saturdays. 54% approve and 32% disapproves. charlie sheen to the rescue. the actor sent $10,000 to a florida teenager who fell from an amusement park ride in 2010 to help cover the therapy dog training. a family friend contacted sheen for help and said it's impossible not to saying he likes to pay it forward. as you know, i'm just back from rome and i'll be covering the conclave and the election of the conclave.

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nyquil® cold and flu doesn't. >> eating fruits and vegetables can make you healthier. there's a strong link between people who ate vegetables and fruit. president obama continues his campaign for tougher gun laws this afternoon in chicago. a city that has seen a surge in gun violence. the official response to the state of the union address. >> it's not about keeping kids

safe at school. that was not even mentioned in the president's speech. they only care about their decades long, decades old gun control agenda. tax every gun for every american gun owner. >> but at a google plus town hall chat, the president tried to reassure gun advocates that he is not going to take away their guns. >> i actually don't think we should ban handguns but keep in mind that trying to come up with a package that protects second amendment rights but also make bes a meaningful difference in reducing violence. we're not going to rule it out completely so the package we put forward will have an impact by instituting a universal background check.

>> i'm joined by impact d.c. and republican strategist david winston. good morning. good to see both of you. >> good morning. >> there's no doubt, angela, that the numbers of gun owners who feel the way that wayne lapierre feels. >> the president has their polls. wayne lapierre does not. i remember in elementary school i had to take a current event class and i'm wondering if he's not paying attention to the news. we have newtown with 20 kids gone. and you have this new killer on

the rampage in los angeles. at some point the gun laws can no longer control us. we have to control them. >> well, i wonder, too, david if they are tone deaf. universal background checks, which do seem, if anything, have the broadest support. take a listen. >> at first glance, there's nothing universal about it at all. but think about it, criminals won't be part of that universe. think about it. they will steal their guns. >> the polls are not on the nra side. 52% of americans support stricter gun control laws. overwhelming support for the universal background checks. 92%. 56% support a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity

magazines. is the nra tone deaf? >> well, i think clearly there's a reaction to newtown that is not expected, given the horrific tragedy. the challenge for everybody, the president included, the republicans, nra, is what is the possible here? what can be done to move things forward? some areas dealing with mental health, looking at the background of individuals in terms of how to put that together to get a good background check and make people that don't have guns shouldn't get them. i think there's an opportunity here, you're seeing from both sides, is drawing a line in the sand. and when you start doing that, the art of the possible becomes less and less. >> well, that makes perfect sense. i think there's an optics question that has been raised. the president is going to chicago for obvious reasons. absolutely terrible problem with gun violence there and it's a city that he knows very well with. it's a city with strict gun control laws. people on the other side are saying, look, stricter laws

don't work. does he have a tough argument there? >> well, i don't think so. and here's why. we have other states throughout the country that have implemented the stand your ground laws and these are designed to protect homeowners and others that have subjected fear. you can look no further than a trayvon martin and jordan davis in florida. those laws don't protect either. i'm not saying that chicago necessarily has the answer but i am saying that we've got to move a lot closer to finding a solution. what we have right now is not working and even if what chicago has right now is not working, we've got to move the ball further down the field so that we can really find a solution that works for our country. >> yeah. and you talked david about drawing a line in the sand and often these arguments on either side can be strident. for example, in the google town hall, the president, again, found himself trying to reassure gun owners that he doesn't want

to take their guns away. you heard that from a lot of people, including gabby giffords and her husband who are gun owners. that doesn't seem to be the case at all, even by people who are gun owners and support the right to bear arms? >> well, going back to what angela was saying there in terms of the gun laws that are out there that, again, chicago has very strict gun laws, connecticut had gun laws and prohibited a lot of the weapons that ended up being used here in some cases. the diynamic is figuring out wht is going to work. you are seeing some nra members, some on the other side of the issue. there's a real chance here in terms of trying to get to some movement forward. i think what worries me in terms of watching this debate as it evolves, people are retreating their respective corners. i think the best example is focusing on mental health.

why can't mental health records be accessible. i think everybody agrees that would be good for gun control and access to guns and yet it seems like we're not any closer in getting there than we were prior to newtown. >> well, i hope that's not the case and i hope more discussion can take place. david winston and angela, thanks for coming. the tax man cometh. there is a new movement to tax internet shopping. mandy drury is here. they seem to become united on stopping the tax-free shopping. they want the cash. >> absolutely. critics on both sides of the aisle have introduced legislation that could force retailers to collect sales taxes in order to end the handicappeds on the brick and mortar stores. it would allow taxes on

transactions from within the state so long as the online business has more than $1 million in annual domestic sales. on the flipside, as you can imagine, some tech companies have spoken out and argued that an online sales tax like that would stunt the growth of online retail and some republicans have even said it's basically a tax increase. we'll have to see how it goes and it's quite significant for stocks like amazon. >> and speaking of shopping, that iconic blue box from tiffany's, tiffany's suing costco because of knock-often gaugeme off engagement rings? >> yes. not just recently but apparently for many years. the lawsuit will seek exactly how many rings costco sold and the source of the jewelry and they are seeking damages. a very interesting case. we're keeping an eye on how that mans out. >> mandy drury, thank you so

much. >> see you. the tweet of the day, his take on the hagel filibuster. the whole we need more time to vet hagel kind blows past the fact that half the gop caucus worked with the guy. [ sniffs ] [ sneezes ] [ sniffles ] [ female announcer ] for everything your face has to face. face it with puffs facial tissues. puffs has air-fluffed pillows for 40% more cushiony thickness. face every day with puffs softness.

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we're learning new details about what life will be like for pope benedict xvi after he steps down. he will remain, quote, hidden to the world in retirement. indicating he will not have a public role once his resignation takes effect february 28th. joining me now, kate childs graham, columnist for the catholic reporter and an activist in the catholic movement. good morning. >> good morning. >> after learning of the pope's decision to resign, you sat down with a young progressive group of catholics.

if there was an overriding theme to their thoughts, what was it? >> a pope who's a good learner. there's clearly issues about equality and we need a pope that's listening to that. >> when you say that transparency is a key issue to the next pope, what do you think that this pope hasn't done or even pope john paul ii that can change that perception? >> sure. i think that this pope certainly has had a papacy plagued with scandal and i think that was a clear signal to the next pope that their key task will be healing those divisions and that's going to come with more transparency and certainly transformation in our church. >> sister louise acres is a members of the sisters of charity. she was here on "jansing & co." yesterday. here's what she had to say about

women in the church. >> i think the catholic church, the roman catholic church is probably one of the last bastians of sexism. i think there's a growing resistance to the status quo today and a growing movement to suggest changes. >> the sister went on to say that women in the priesthood could be one possible solution and i'm wondering what your reaction is to those comments? >> absolutely. i think it's one component of the transformation we need to see. but we can't just add women in stir, right? we need to fully transform our church, look at those policies and practices that we have that are great and lift them and pick them up. women's inequality is not working in the catholic churnls. >> the conversations we are having right now are the same conversations that we had when

pope john paul ii was ill and then when the next conclave came to be. there are other areas that the church should quote/unquote modernize but areas that you hope are real areas for progress? >> i don't know that it's not so much about modernization but to borrow a phrase from the second vatican council, we need more than that. we need to look at the teachings and practices around economic justice and social justice that have served catholics so well and lift those up and we need to change those that aren't working, those around banning women from the priesthood. >> it is interesting when you look at the raw numbers of what's going on in the catholic church after years and years of the vocations going down. they seem to be slowly on the rise, even here in the united states. there are some surprising numbers, i think, in the number of young people who are part of the catholic church or even joining the catholic church and i'm sure people asked you the question, kate, why would you be

a member of that church that seems to be anti-women, anti-gay? i'm sure you get this question. what do you say? >> i say that this church is as much my church as it is pope benedict's church. this church is home for me. i think we see young catholics and progressive catholics, members called to action, an organization that i'm on the board of, building inclusive justice-seeking, loving faith communities at the local level and we're going to continue to do that no matter who the next pope is. >> kate childs graham. we'll talk as this process continues. >> that would be great. >> thanks for coming on the program. >> thanks for having me. it seems appropriate for this week's walk down memory lane, flashback friday, we are flashing back to april 2005 when i was in rome for the election of the pope and the death of pope john paul ii. this is a man who throughout his

life has drown huge crowds, people just want to be near him. i think in his time of death, really, his final days and hours, people want to come here to support him. we extend our sympathies at the loss of your good friend, pope john paul ii has died at the age of 84. the third longest serving pope in catholic church history. on the second day of the first conclave of the 21st century, the bell is tolling. the smoke is white. we have a new pope. there is not a person who is in that crowd of thousands of people in st. peter's square who is going to move. in fact, from our vantage point, we can see people streaming in to st. peter's square. they are coming from out of vatican offices. they are coming down from the main avenue that leads on to the

square. and now the question is, who will be the new pope? and here comes the announcement of the new pope. let's listen. at the has taken the name of benedict. joseph, 78 years old. he just had a birthday. he just turned 78. he impressed people with a very moving sermon at the funeral of pope john paul. already one of the most powerful men at the vatican and he will be pope benedict. and the final wave from the former joseph ratzinger, the dean of cardinal is now pope

benedict xvi. and we thought pope for life. obviously he's writing a new modern history of the catholic church. you can read more of my thoughts about the pope and see a longer version of this flashback on our website. that wraps up this hour of chris "jansing & co." richard lui is coming up next and is in for thomas roberts. >> the difficulty of watching this process throughout that time, the smoke comes out and you have to be able to tell what color it is. >> that was the fourth one. there were four votes and on none of them could we really tell. they all looked gray to us. and i was just reminded, as i was listening to that again, that because the crowd was so loud that when they announced it and it's as clear as can be that they announced that it was joseph ratzinger, we had to wait for somebody on the ground to

tell us. we have another one coming up. >> you can feel the energy. i know you can't wait for this one as well. >> the food is good anyway. >> the food is always good. if anyone knows italian food, chris, you do. >> thank you. an emotional event at the white house. president obama will present the citizens medal to the six adult victims of the sandy hook shooting. there are 18 americans who will be given the medal. plus, blocking hagel. the republicans have left the republican without his choice for defense secretary. that's next. and a choice. take tylenol or take aleve, the #1 recommended pain reliever by orthopedic doctors. just two aleve can keep pain away all day. back to the news.

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[ female announcer ] ask your doctor about lyrica today. it's specific treatment for diabetic nerve pain. to hear more patient stories, visit lyrica.com. noun. and a very good day. i'm richard lui. straight to live pictures where minutes from now the president will award this year's citizen

medals given to educators who were killed inside connecticut, rachel davino, dawn hochsprung, anne marie murphy, lauren rousseau. last night, the head of the nra, wayne lapierre, delivered his own response to the president's call for action on guns. >> it's not about keepinging kids safe at school. that wasn't even mentioned in the president's speech. they only care about their decades long, decades old gun control agenda. the president has taken the art of public deception and manipulation to a whole new level. >> and now to the president's pick for defense secretary, chuck hagel is on hold for at least now. republicans successfully halted his